Dr. Stephen O’Connell is an Applied Economist studying social protection and inclusion. Currently, he serves as an Associate Professor of Economics at Emory University. He uses empirical methods to understand how scaled policies can promote greater economic opportunity, particularly for socially excluded or economically vulnerable populations. His work integrates labour, development, and microeconomics with field research on gender, employment, entrepreneurship, forced displacement, and social policy design.

He has previously collabourated with governments and international NGOs in India, Brazil, Lebanon, and Iraq, among other places. He has received funding from The World Bank, the United Nations, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

He was a Postdoctoral fellow in the Economics Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds PhD in Economics from the City University of New York. His BA degree is in Economics from Boston College.